By:Beth Wallach
He waved to the breakfast crowd before heading straight to the gym, where parents were treated to a photo-op as their children sat on Santa-s lap to confide what they wanted for Christmas this year.
Since 1988, the children of the village have been dining with jolly St. Nick over a meal of hot-off-the-griddle pancakes, cereals, bagels, juice and hot chocolate. With traditional Christmas tunes playing in the background, and the rec center festooned with garlands and tinsel, the children, mostly the preschool set, enjoyed breakfast with their parents, and in many cases, grandparents.
The pancakes, which were cooked to order on site, were donated courtesy of the Pantry Diner, namely the Mavroudis family, which has been contributing to this effort for the past 10 years. This year-s event, however, was bittersweet for the family, as Tom Mavroudis, the diner-s owner, died in his home at the age of 61 earlier this month. His wife, Jean, a native of Rockville Centre, was on hand to hear Mayor Eugene Murray-s tribute to her late husband. Also attending was Mavroudis- daughter, Deena, and her children, Brianna and Dean. Murray said the family owned business has been a landmark in Rockville Centre for 54 years.
Off to a small start in the early years with, perhaps,
two hundred village residents attending, there are now lines out the door for each of the three seatings. With 400 people at each seating, Santa-s helpers, included a corps of 80 well trained volunteers who worked in conjunction with full-time and part-time rec center employees, ensuring that things ran smoothly.
When asked how many pancakes were served, Dino Glykos, one of the Pantry Diner-s chefs, said, We stopped counting at 1,000. Tony Brunetta, director of parks and recreation for the village said the diner donates everything down to all the batter, butter, chefs and jelly. My husband would have been overwhelmed seeing all the children and grandchildren, said Jean, who grew up within walking distance to the old rec center on Maple Avenue. Kids that I remember are now bringing their own kids.
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